Communication forms an important ingredient required for the very survival of living beings. It takes place automatically without the consent or request of anyone. It is a process which most of us never think about analytically. Any breakdown of it culminates in all kinds of maladies. People, who analyse the use and the usefulness of this process, gain immensely in terms of an unusual insight into human nature. If people were unable to share knowledge, each person would have to learn everything himself.
There are various ways through which living beings communicate with one another. They manage it by tongue, teeth, mouth, nose, eyes, face, head, shoulders, hands, legs, i.e. whole body, through singing, laughing, dancing, weeping, touching and even by silence. In short, they use all the resources at their command for the purpose of communication. They share their ideas and emotions, actions and reactions through this communication with other members of their societies.
The subject matter of the book Communication: A Circumspection has been divided into four parts. Part I deals with human communication in general—a circumspection. Besides general aspects of communication, soliloquy and silence, both of which represent some element or semblance of communication, have been discussed. Some special features that we observe in the system of communication being practiced in armed forces are highlighted briefly in the essay entitled ‘Communication in Military Context’.
Contained in Part II, are essays on ‘Telepathic Communication’, ‘Role of Humour in Communication’ and ‘Counselling’. ‘Braggartism’ and ‘Sarcasm, Derision and Insulation’ are special or peculiar types of communication taking place amongst human beings.
Contained in Part III, are communication vis-à-vis other members of the fauna and that with respect to flora.
In Part IV, there are two narrations: the first, dealing with the saga of existence of a personified inanimate object, bed, in ‘A Speaking Bed’ and the second, a candid self-analytical account of the life of a pet-dog in ‘A Canine Perspective’. Both these narrations are in autobiographical mode.
The book shall be useful to students and teachers of communication, especially the details that are related to evolution and techniques of communication. It shall be equally useful for people involved in management studies, counseling and other fields where communication is the key, Common readers shall also find it interesting and informative.
Bhanuvikraman Nair, after retirement as a senior officer of the Indian Air Force, has been working as a Management Consultant. He has an astute earnest craving for pedagogy. He has been associated with Indira Gandhi National Open University in the capacity of an Academic Counsellor on Management Studies. He has been teaching various Management subjects at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda as a part-time visiting faculty for several years. He has also been teaching Business Communication in a premier private institution. He is associated with some NGOs which are engaged in teaching English to economically and socially backward children.
His earlier book, Random Reflections: Essays on Psycho-Socio Ethos dealing with subjects randomly picked from untrodden realms of human activities and behaviour has been well received by one-and-all, especially students of Psychology, Sociology and Philosophy.
